Another Life, a Long Time Ago
by minicoopergirl93
Summary: Wizened in their years, and with the emergence of a new Avatar, Katara and Zuko reflect on their lives, and the days before the end of the war.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

~ Katara ~

As Korra battled through her fire bending test, barely breaking a sweat, Katara smiled to herself. The girl, the young Avatar was strong and determined, passionate and bull-headed. Not to mention, she had quite a temper. It reminded her of someone she once loved, so many years ago, before the war ended. Someone whom tried to capture her, and then ended up saving her life. Someone with a scar worn proudly as a badge of honor.

It began not long before the end of the Hundred-Years War. The Fire Nation had ravaged the planet, and people were taken from the living world daily as a consequence. Katara and her brother, Sokka, had lost their mother to the greed of powerful people, and their tribe was no more than a few dozen; most of the inhabitants were fighting on the front lines. Katara and her brother found a young boy and a sky bison, frozen in a block of ice. His name was Aang, and he was the only surviving Airbender—he had been frozen for 100 years. She knew right then and there that he was their savior; the Avatar.

Then, one day, a Fire Nation ship anchored itself to their humble ice cap. As the gate on the bow of the ship lowered itself, Katara was reminded of the same situation many years before, when the Fire Nation took her mother away. One man swaggered out of the ship, his head shaved, save for one ponytail on the back of his head. His eyes were golden, but shone with an unyielding and fierce light. He would have been handsome, had he not been so haughty and proud. When this man, this Firebender, turned his face towards her, she saw the mark on his face; red, wrinkled, burned skin, covering nearly half of his face, marring his eye and ear; she couldn't breathe. The scar gave him away for what he truly was—a monster.

For most of a year he attempted—and nearly came close to—chasing her, Sokka, and Aang down. He was always preaching about honor. How capturing a 12 year-old boy would restore it to him, how his destiny was to find, and destroy, the last hope of the world. Then one day, everything changed. In Ba Sing Se, trapped in a dungeon made of gemstones, Katara saw the war raging inside him. Torn between his family, enraged at himself and seeking forgiveness, she took pity on him and began to trust again. Yet old habits die hard, and when Zuko saw Aang again, he sided with his sister in an attempt to regain his father's respect.

Azula. She was the root of many problems in those days. Had Azula never existed, perhaps Zuko would never had felt the need to persist in chasing her and her friends. But then again, perhaps the war would never have been won, had Azula not pushed Zuko to change, to metamorphose into the honorable man he grew to be.

Good and evil. Dark and light. She knew all too well about them. And she knew that Zuko did, too.

They shared an understanding. It was one day that she learned how easy it was to succumb to the darkness inside her. But she knew if he hadn't been there with her, on the day she sought out the man who murdered her mother, she would have become a monster herself. A person she did not deem worthy to forgive. A Bloodbender. After that, Katara never doubted Zuko again.

After that day, Aang spent most of his time training to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. There was no doubt that he was normally childish, but his insistence on not killing anyone in the fight was mature beyond his years, and she admired him for his determination. Slowly, Katara began to realize how much she cared for that small Airbender, but she mostly felt like she was always having to mother him. Except, of course, when he would try to protect her. Then she mostly felt like hitting him upside the head. But Zuko never questioned her. She supposed it came with the territory of having Azula for a sister. After the day in Ba Sing Se, Zuko never doubted Katara's skill, or her ability to fight, protect, and heal. She loved that about him. He understood her.

Sometimes, Katara wished for a different past. One where the Firebender loved her in return. But she had three wonderful children, and grandchildren as well. And wishing for a different life was an insult to Aang's memory, and she did love her late husband deeply.

But if he had loved her, perhaps her life would have been different. There was a day when she thought she saw something reflecting in his eyes, but she brushed it off as the aftereffects of healing him. In his final Agni Kai, he had fought Azula bravely, but Azula tricked him, firing lightening at Katara instead. Zuko rushed in to save her, and was electrocuted in the process. Katara was afraid he had died, and in her fury, she managed to capture the insane female Firebender, before rushing over to find that her friend, her love, was still alive, determinedly grasping on to life. She healed him with waterbending, letting her love and energy flow into him. He uttered his thanks, and she cried, just like a Waterbender would.

She stayed with Zuko until he was safe, and even after that, until he fell asleep. She was determined to tell him the truth, tell him how much she loved him. Uncle Iroh helped her look after him. But as they was watching over his bruised and battered body, Katara heard a name rise from his lips: "Mai…" At first she was surprised, unsure of what to do, until he cried her name out again: "Mai!" Katara left the room in tears. Zuko awoke to his uncle caring for him alone. It was that day that she decided to do what was best for the world, instead of what her heart was telling her to do. It was that day that she chose Aang, instead.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

~ Zuko ~

Lord Zuko sat at his pai sho board in deep thought, his hands pressed against each other in front of his face. He had not played the game in years, since his daughter became the new Fire Lord. It was nice, he admitted to himself, not being on the throne anymore. He remembered how paranoid he was when he first assumed control of the Fire Nation—always expecting an attack on his life or some betrayal. Thankfully, he quickly got over that.

The only downside to having more free time now was that his mind was more prone to wander. And no matter what he did to distract himself, it would always manage to slip back to the days before the end of the war, when his Uncle, Sokka, and Aang were still alive, when his friends still traveled the world with him, when he was with the woman he loved.

Now Aang was gone, and the Avatar spirit was reincarnated into a young girl from the Southern Water Tribe. Zuko made it a point not to visit the area too often. She looked so much like Katara; it brought up too many old feelings, feelings he had pushed away for so long. He knew that if he went to the South Pole again, it would be too hard to leave, especially now that he has fewer responsibilities to tie him to the Fire Nation.

His mind continued to wander, bringing old memories to the surface. He remembered how in his misguided youth he walked onto the southern ice sheet like he owned it, and was confronted by two people he now considers to be two of his best friends. At first he thought them insolent. Later, he found them brave, compassionate, merciful, and fierce. If only he knew the error of his ways sooner.

He remembered clearly how Katara's face fell the day he joined his sister in the fight to capture Ba Sing Se, not minutes after he confessed his greatest fears and misgivings to her. He was so confused. He thought he knew what he wanted, but it wasn't until after that day when he realized how lonely he was. Despite being surrounded by Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai, and receiving the respect of his father. He struggled with his path for too long. He didn't blame Katara for not trusting him that day. However, the rest of the group came to trust him much faster than she did. It was almost as if she cared more about him, and therefore was more wounded by his betrayal that day. But she was only concerned because of how much she loved the Avatar. He knew she was afraid that he would betray them again, putting Aang's life in more danger. It was obvious.

The day he became enlightened about his love for Katara was the day he and Aang learned about the last two dragons. As the flames swirled around him, he saw the force behind fire bending. Passion. Drive. Love. Determination. And those flames formed her face in front of him, illustrating her place in his life. She was his source of all the qualities that allow him to fire bend. He knew then that he loved her; he could only dream of her loving him.

No, Katara only ever loved Aang. He knew that to be true. There was a day that he thought maybe her feelings toward him had changed, but by the time his coronation had arrived, he knew he was only kidding himself. But he will always be indebted to her for saving his life that fateful day.

Azula had gone mad. She cracked under the pressure of being a Fire Lord, under their father's thumb, and he could tell the minute Appa had landed in the courtyard. He hair was in disarray, she swayed as she walked, her voice was pitchy and loud. The Azula he grew up with would have never allowed herself to look so messy and unorganized. For her, everything had to be perfect. Looking at her, he knew he could finally win.

The battle began, and he was matching her pace for pace. His bending had improved greatly, and she was only getting weaker. He thought he was going to win. Until she exploited his one weakness, and directed her lightening past his shoulder and at Katara. His Katara. He reacted, and jumped in front of it, but he had lost his chi flow, and couldn't redirect it completely. Zuko heard Katara call his name in a panic. His sight flowed in and out and he struggled to stay conscious. He had to help Katara. He had to defeat Azula. The night seemed to stretch on for an eternity as Katara battled his sister into submission. Soon, he felt her hands on his chest, water cool on his skin. She was healing him.

As he thanked her, he saw tears stream down her face silently, and he thought her eyes glistened with more than just water. Later, he just attributed it to the fact that he almost died; his head wasn't in the right place.

That night, Katara refused to leave his side until he was safe. He was treated once more by her healing powers before he fell asleep, with her and Uncle watching over him. But the next morning when he awoke, Katara had gone, and only Uncle remained. Iroh seemed almost sad when Zuko woke, but the look passed quickly upon seeing that his nephew had survived the night.

He had vague memories of his dreams that night, sparked by the electricity that damaged his body. Mai was there with Katara, fighting his sister atop a giant lion-turtle. When he woke, Uncle helped change his bandages. There was a sly look on his face as he told him to go out into the other room. Mai was waiting for him there when he entered. Zuko was both conflicted and excited—he really cared for Mai, and he was so glad that she was safe. But he did not feel as passionately about her as he did about Katara. However, he knew that Katara would never love him the way he loved her—she was the Avatar's Waterbender, and that was all; but Mai did love him, and he knew that asking for more was selfish. Aang deserved Katara's love, and Zuko wasn't sure if he would ever be good enough for her, not with his past treatment of her. He respected Aang too much to try and woo Katara. He had Mai, and he had friends. That would have to suffice.


End file.
